Posted on 03/06/2021 8:12:26 AM PST by DUMBGRUNT
Volkswagen says the ID.4 is their most important vehicle launch since the Beetle. That's big shoes to fill! This long-range all electric vehicle is competing in a highly sought after market, and America's latest crave: the crossover. The ID.4 features 250 miles of range with a 82 kWh battery pack (77 kWh useable), 201 HP and 229 lb-ft of torque, and RWD. The permanent magnet synchronous motor spins up to 16,000 RPM!
It all sounds very exciting, but unfortunately the ID.4 feels like it has come a bit short on the promise of bring "electric cars to the millions, not the millionaires." Even with the $7,500 tax credit, the starting price of nearly $40,000 is still a tad high. Especially considering the AWD variants will easily push to $50k with options. But the bigger disappointments come from the current charging system: Electrify America. You'd think charging and navigating a VW on VW's own funded and created network would be seamless, but for now, it's anything but. Check out the video for all the details.
(Excerpt) Read more at youtube.com ...
I think hybrids is the mid-point between gas and hydrogen. I would consider a hybrid myself.
—”I can visualize folks driving in sub-zero weather in WI/MI/MN with no heater or desert heat in AZ/NM/TX etc”
The last time I checked, it can get very cold in Norway.
So, fear not!
Norway’s EV sales rise to record 54% market share
Audi topped the 2020 sales with its e-tron SUV and Sportsback models as the best-selling new cars in Norway last year, while Tesla’s Model 3, the 2019 winner, was in second place.
Electric cars are gadgets, in some ways high performance gadgets, but still gadgets; and they are not green.
First build a sustainable generation IV nuclear power grid (or some equivalent), and then and only then will electric cars make any sort of sense environmentally and financially.
Except Trabants are still running after all these decades. You can fix them in your own garage. They don’t need a $5000 battery replacement every 10 years. They work in the cold. And you can always get a spare can of gas if you run out on the side of the road. When I lived in Dresden and Berlin They were still driving around. In fact, there’s an entire tourist cottage industry of renting out Trabants for tours of Berlin.
I bet in Norway they don’t out drive their heating system; good for maybe a twenty mile R/T?
good for maybe a twenty mile R/T?
Guess again.
What’s the charge time on them?
“Charging is the choke point for EV use in the city where they would work very well.”
Charging could be done at the workplace/store parking lots.
The amount of wiring to supply commercial areas would be far less than to rewire the entire grid.
“city has thousands of thieves that will chop your charging cable off in the blink of an eye”
Federal law could require special licenses for copper/aluminum scrap handlers that would make it impossible for the Larry Ladrons of the USA to obtain money for stolen charging cables.
Independence Day, the movie:
"ID4"
Easy enough to research along with Rachel NV, which BTW is the location of the "pillar" of Rachel's grave to this day.
This particular backstory is less apparent:
Not that she was buried there, but Rachel was the baby born in the tiny town, so they named the place after her.
But later the family moved to Moses Lake, WA, which is only a little way from Ephrata. 2 year old Rachel died shortly after the eruption of Mt. Saint Helens, of respiratory distress, laborious breathing as it were.
Two years old. She was buried in ID, but there's a pillar/momument/memorial to her in Rachel, NV.
Rachel Jones
Birth
15 Feb 1978
Rachel, Lincoln County, Nevada, USA
Death
24 May 1980 (aged 2)
Burial
Little Butte Cemetery
Annis*, Jefferson County, Idaho, USA
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/55431224/rachel-jones
In Rachel, NV:
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/22946504/rachel-jones
There's a "time capsule" and backstory in there all right, which is not of this world.
*ANN-niss, like the American English pronunciation of the star that is called anise.
(Just thought I'd throw that detail in for ya, Daf.)
Until they can get to a quick swap-out on a hydrogen fuel cell, or a rapid fill-up of the same, electric-powered vehicles without an auxiliary on-board charging or energy source system shall never show much advantage over “fossil-fueled” vehicles.
Perhaps, if the world goes to next-generation nuclear power, like Thorium-fueled Molten Salt reactors to drive the dynamos necessary to generate the base power supply needed to both run the industrial sector and the personal use consumption patterns, then the power grid could bear the extra demands of rechargeable electrical powered vehicles, both for personal and commercial transport.
But the current design of batteries just cannot supplant the “fossil-fueled” power needed for this personal and commercial transportation.
Battery storage is largely a dead-end technology. Maybe a capacitor system with controlled release of electrical energy upon demand? Not yet possible, I know. But probably will be available long before a low-cost, high-capacity system of storage batteries.
Come on, engineers. Why are you paying the high tuitions at engineering schools if they cannot provide you with the tools to unravel these problems?
Q (N0, not that Q): Why do the British drink warm beer?
A: Lucas refrigerators.
They can try... SPJNK.
“VW is notorious for it’s horrific electrical system problems.”
VW is notorious for way more than just that ... remember the AI they built in to detect when they were being emission tested so they could automatically change engine performance in order to pass?
but my fav was when my mechanic friend explained some years ago that if you moved certain mechanical actuators like accelerator pedals or brake pedals on VWs while the battery was disconnected, the CPU lost track of their locations and ONLY a reset by a factory service center could rectify the situation, and of course the auto had to be TOWED to the factory service center for the “repair” ...
“These electric vehicles need to come with a gasoline powered apu for heat/air and emergency power generation. “
that would be not too much different than a hybrid ...
—”What’s the charge time on them?”
As with so many high-tech devices, it is complicated.
And in cold weather, more so.
For long-distance trips, Tesla recommends starting your fast charging sessions at lower states-of-charge, when the battery is warm.
They also recommend leaving your Tesla plugged in as much as possible on slow charge when it’s not in use. This uses the charging system, rather than your battery, to retain heat.
A long answer...
This is the same reviewer as the above VW, this time in a Telsa Model 3. Also compares the winter trip to his summer trip.
Tesla Model 3 Performance 2,500 miles to test its performance and efficiency in freezing conditions. Temperatures reached as low as 0°F (-18°C), and rarely jumped above freezing.
This video will cover the 2,500 mile road trip, how navigation and superchargers work, why cold temperatures result in less range, what studies have been performed to estimate winter efficiency, what my actual efficiency was, how this relates to gasoline vehicles in terms of fuel equivalency, different driving strategies to minimize stops or minimize total driving/charing time, how higher speeds affect efficiency, how wheels and tires affect efficiency, charging at night vs morning, broken superchargers, how much EV road trips cost, how comfortable the road trip is in a Tesla, and Tesla’s AutoPilot and Full Self Driving features. It’s a data and info packed video, enjoy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UskzfQJt2Bc
Couple more questions (since I’ve never seen the movie). So the ID4 plaque shown in your picture outside of that alien themes motel is the spot where the girl was buried? I had to search what ID4 had to do with Independence Day (The Movie). I assumed maybe there was an Independence Day Part 4 or something. Not sure what the correlation of the girl that died and the movie or if they are related at all? What does the plaque say on the ID4 picture you posted? Have you ever been to that motel and would you recommend their continental breakfast?
Hmmm, well...
I’ve already posted the location and the links to the girl’s gravesite location and also the memorial in NV.
Some of the Independence Day movie was filmed in Rachel, NV.
It’s mentioned/linked right on the wiki page for Rachel, Nevada. So from there, it’s a simple click to the movie’s page.
Click the time capsule image for more (larger) sizes.
I haven’t been there myself.
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